


Burning Igloos

by SchrodingersShanu



Series: A Futile Exercise in Brevity - A prompt series where the writer keeps it short (maybe) and lazy (for sure) [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26509939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchrodingersShanu/pseuds/SchrodingersShanu
Summary: Prompt: "Hyunghyuk roommates au in which they didn't click well together while they move in and they're always arguing over little stuffs like who gets to push the buttons in the elevator or who's going to the grocery this time. But oh well, stuffs happen ((like they had shits on their assignments and they stop hating each other and even trying to help them and bam! Adorable romance because they are low(high) key made for each other."Summary: They are roommates and enemies and then suddenly they are roommates but not enemies feat. all adorable romance and sexual tension missing because the writer is 92 years old.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Lee Minhyuk
Series: A Futile Exercise in Brevity - A prompt series where the writer keeps it short (maybe) and lazy (for sure) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927456
Comments: 23
Kudos: 72





	Burning Igloos

While Politics is complex and can be understood in many ways, in its essence, politics is negotiation.

To put it simply, if we had everything that we wanted at any time we wanted, we wouldn't need politics, and negotiating that scarcity amongst each other is politics.

Now that Hyungwon in his benevolence has informed you of that, here’s the setting:

Right now, the sky outside should be dark and inky blue, the wind should be breezy but chilly, the people outside should be letting out puffs of breath while speaking to each other in the January cold.

Note the “should”?

That’s because Hyungwon isn’t outside to say this with complete certainty. He is inside his best friend, and homegrown carnivorous plant, Kihyun’s place.

Hyungwon - beautiful, not-blonde but gorgeous - is bending his beautiful, strong and long legs to - what some might call - kneel on the floor. The cold of the floor is seeping from his naked feet to his whole body but that doesn’t stop his long, flexible and muscular arms to wrap around Kihyun’s knobbly knees.

The watch on Hyungwon’s wrist, that he is innocently digging into Kihyun’s knee, is golden and vintage, currently chiming a 10 o’clock which Hyungwon notes with his round and wide doe eyes, and his lips - thick, beautiful, seductive - start moving in a plea.

Affecting pain in his expression, Hyungwon utters a pitiful, “Kihyun, please!”.

Kihyun, cold and unrelenting, tries to shake warm and pliant Hyungwon away as he rejects him with a firm, “No, you idiot.”.

Remember, what Hyungwon said earlier about politics?

He is _negotiating_ , not begging.

“Please, I am begging.”

It really is a political act.

He exercises his political right a little more fiercely as he clutches Kihyun’s chicken legs and puts his beautiful face against his friend's okay-okay thighs.

"Yes I do the cooking, yes I do the cleaning. Plus I keep the na-na real sweet, for your eatin-"

Like a musically gifted Velociraptor, Kihyun screeches, and flaps his legs even harder, trying his utter best to shrug his least favourite leech away. "Stop disrespecting mother Nicki Minaj like that." Kihyun looks at the couch, smiling painfully at his new roommate, Changkyun, who stares at them with placid eyes before moving his gaze to the TV again.

Gritting his teeth, Kihyun looks down at Hyungwon, who decides to come out as a superhero right at that moment and tightens his hold even more.

"I will stop rapping if you take me in,” Hyungwon says, wide innocent eyes looking up. _Bambi who, bitch?_ And, because he doesn’t believe in playing nice when asking for favours, he adds, “Nicki Minaj is problematic anyway. I will send you a twitter thread.”

Kihyun looks up at the ceiling and groans. “Stop sending me twitter threads! I am running out of artists to listen to. All this- Ugh.” He gives one last strong shake which Hyungwon takes happily with a smile and stays stationary. “I am even scared of listening to new artists without searching ‘artist problematic’ on Twitter first. I am so paranoid. Stop with your fucking threads. You have taken away my peace of mind, and for what? All this just because I made a face at your Michael Jackson t-shirt.”

Hyungwon shrugs, wiggling his feet discreetly, which is currently propping up his butt, to get rid of the numbness that’s setting in. “That’s my old pajama shirt! It gives me comfort. I only wear it inside and you looked at it like it will come alive and start murdering people and I would be complicit. If you are going to judge one, you need to judge them all.”

“That’s not even- oh my god, please just get up.” Shaking his legs feebly now, Kihyun longingly looks in the direction of the apartment door. “I really need to use the washroom, Hyungwon. This isn’t funny anymore. Please let me go.”

“Funny?” Hyungwon spits. “My soul is straight-up crying. Please let me sleep here for one more night. I will take the couch. I will take the floor. I will curl near your feet like a dog if that’s what will convince you.” Hyungwon looks at Kihyun’s feet and makes a face. “Um. Maybe not the last one.”

Vibrating his legs, eyes closed in pain, Kihyun starts wringing his hands, clearly about to lose control of his bladder.

“Hyungwon, you do this every week. It’s only these many times that I can let you stay here just because you don’t like your roommate. Get a new place and until then, learn to be an adult and ignore him.”

“Please I can't take that- that fly of a man anymore!” Hyungwon whines. “He put my silk boxers in the washing machine yesterday. It’s meant to be hand washed! He said it was a mistake but I know a planned attack when I see one. I get that it was a mistake on my part for thinking of his offer to do my laundry as an olive branch when clearly he had other intentions. He knew how much those black silk boxers meant to me.” Unable to hide his pain anymore, Hyungwon looks down and shakes his head, sucking his bottom lip to bite back his whimper. “That's the only piece of evidence that marks my former status as a trust fund kid, Kihyun. The only symbol of my- my-" A sniff. "Of my past. That I was once rich and above sharing rooms with cretin like him."

"Oh, cry me a fucking river. I can’t indulge you anymore. Changkyun and I have plans.” Kihyun says while looking at Changkyun with a poker face.

Without looking away, Changkyun gives them a thumbs up and mutters a “sure”.

“Oh, I won’t disturb you. I will be like a pretty and exotic flower in the cheap flowerpot that is your room.”

Suddenly, Kihyun stills and looks down at Hyungwon. The crazed look in his eyes makes Hyungwon’s heart skip a beat in fear but he persists by clutching Kihyun’s knees even harder.

“You need to learn to compromise,” Kihyun says, tone lifeless. “Now, I will count down to 3 and if you don’t let me go, I am going to piss on your hair.”

Hyungwon scoffs. “As if. I would like to see you try.”

Kihyun doesn’t say anything.

And, then, he smiles, a soft little thing that is given by charming psychopaths in American TV before they go on a murder rampage.

“3”

Kihyun puts a hand on the waistband of his sweatpants.

Hyungwon feels a pit of fear forming in his stomach because the thing is, Kihyun’s conservatism comes and goes according to his convenience and-

“2”

Changkyun puts the TV on mute and turns in their direction, eyes curious, hands holding a bowl of popcorn.

“1”

Hyungwon gets up and wobbles towards the apartment door, shutting it loudly on his way out.

***

Hyungwon greets the juniors who come out of the elevator, bowing down slightly, they greet him back happily.

Eyeing the bags of groceries in his hands, they offer to help him with starry eyes but Hyungwon politely declines. He knows what they want, which is, to meet the oh-so-sweet but keeps-it-totally-real RJ of their campus, Minhyuk.

Hyungwon doesn’t get it.

He listens to Minhyuk’s show every Friday night while lying in his bed, blank eyes staring at an open book that he pays no mind to because his brain instead decides to focus on Minhyuk’s voice.

And words.

And laugh.

Really, what’s the hype?

He just doesn’t get it.

Instead of entering the open elevator, he quickly spins on his feet to check if Minhyuk is nearby.

Now, people like Kihyun who are uninitiated in the ways of Lee Minhyuk might think that Hyungwon is being overly cautious. But, the thing about Lee Minhyuk is that you can’t ever be _too_ cautious with him.

Once Hyungwon told Minhyuk to stop leaving tea bags all over the apartment and when he came back, he actually found the apartment sans tea bags. He thought that he had finally gotten through Minhyuk, a big mistake, because from then on he started founding tea leaves in random places like inside his books, sprinkled over his laptop, in his clothes, in his hair, _in his toothpaste._

How did Minhyuk even do the last one?

The point is: You could make an igloo, and Lee Minhyuk will still find a way to burn it and collect the insurance money while looking all innocent and angel-like.

That’s the only respectable thing you’ll force Hyungwon to say about him.

The elevator starts closing. Hyungwon quickly presses the button to keep it open. Finding the path behind him clear, he turns his head left and right, checking for Minhyuk again. Finding no demonic presence around him, he finally steps in, breath caught in his throat until the elevator starts moving.

Sometimes Hyungwon thinks that Minhyuk has memorized his schedule and deliberately hides near the ground floor corridor, so that as soon as Hyungwon takes half a step in, he can appear behind him like an evil ninja, and bump Hyungwon further in to hijack the elevator buttons even though they are going to the same floor because, get this, they are roommates.

The number of times this has happened, it can’t be a coincidence, Hyungwon is sure of it.

Minhyuk is exacting revenge, now only if Hyungwon knew for what.

Oh okay, he has a _slight_ inkling.

There are three sides to any story:

One person’s story.

The other person’s story.

The objective truth.

In this case, the objective truth _is_ Hyungwon’s story because he is a proper saint.

Now that we have established that, here’s how it all started:

Minhyuk and Hyungwon’s rivalry began a month ago in their college canteen of all places.

Now, Hyungwon, freshly abandoned by his parents, was trying to adapt to this new way of life which included buying something barely skirting the definition of food from their college canteen because it was cheap and apparently nutritious enough to give them sustenance. So, like every upstanding citizen, he gave his coupon to the staff, and stood in the next line to get his “food”.

And, this is the part where the universe went: Huh, you are sexy. Why don’t I start a chain of events that fucks you over again and again?

Acting as an agent of this universal conspiracy, came this sweet, rough voice from behind him - that part Hyungwon liked, he liked it very much, it was a very nice voice - which then started saying preposterously unsweet things like, “Excuse me, can I move ahead of you? I have a class soon.”

Any other day, Hyungwon would have graciously abided with a bow to boot. But, that day wasn’t any other day, because any other day, he wouldn’t even be caught dead in that place.

Instead, that day was the day he realised that his parents had cut off his money and now he would have to live out the rest of his three years in college as an ordinary pauper.

Hyungwon knows that you are tempted to think that this must have happened because Hyungwon is a spoiled brat who probably overspent his money.

But, like always, Hyungwon is here to tell you that you are wrong and it’s this kind of judgment that will keep you from marrying rich and hacking into capitalism. What actually happened was that his parents were the ones who overspent by making some bad investments and were now trying to get their shit together, leaving Hyungwon to his own means until then.

Are you feeling like an idiot now for thinking bad of Hyungwon just because he is pretty, has the best hair on this campus, and an awesome bod that he was just born with?

So, yeah, it wasn’t any other day, instead, it was a bad day, so he said a gruff, “It’s a uni, dude, we all have classes,” and didn’t budge.

That should have been the end of the story.

He wasn’t _that_ polite but he also wasn’t rude unless someone changed the basic laws of language and universe while he was sleeping, and now stating universal truths was considered impolite.

That must have been the case for Minhyuk, who tapped him on his shoulder and said, “A ‘No’ would have sufficed. You don’t need to be so rude.”

Hyungwon had turned around and blatantly ignored the other guy’s pretty face - He sees a mirror every day, this shit doesn’t work on him - and said, “No, I can’t move.” A sweet mocking smile. “This better?”

Pretty, sweet-voiced and apparently offended-by-universal-truths Minhyuk had narrowed his eyes at him and said, “No. It’s still rude. It literally doesn’t take anything to be polite to strangers.”

Hyungwon had shrugged and turned back again. “I was polite. Let’s just agree to disagree.”

And, that was that.

When Hyungwon’s turn came, he felt a little bad, so he looked behind him to offer Minhyuk his place, but the boy was gone by then. The thought that the stranger probably abandoned his breakfast because Hyungwon was having a shitty day and had decided to turn that shittiness into something contagious had made Hyungwon feel even more shitty. Then, he actually ate the “food” and with chipmunk cheeks - because he couldn’t swallow the “food” in good faith - realised it wasn’t worth it at all.

All this tenderness and pity went out of the door when he got back to his new shared apartment and found out that someone, probably his roommate who wasn’t there in the morning when Hyungwon moved in, took it upon themself to pick up the packet of chips that he vividly remembered putting over the fridge in the hopes of associating his new, tiny-to-the-extent of feeling claustrophobic place to something positive. You know, like snacks? And, it had. It had made Hyungwon look forward to coming back there.

With his keen eyes, he had scanned the floor and followed the trail of crumbs to the living room couch where he had picked up a crumb (from the couch) before licking it off his index finger and had found a match in taste to confirm his _My new roommate is a thief_ thesis.

Instead of going out again and buying some more snacks, he decided to go for another similar route which was to angrily march in the living room while thinking about everything that the universe was fucking him over with until he got so worked up that he was ready to show his new roommate how civilization works with statistics and examples.

And, that’s where it all went even more downhill.

Because his new roommate was the same pretty, sweet-voiced, offended-by-truths guy Minhyuk, he found out the name days later.

Now, Minhyuk likes saying to his friends that he had been having a bad day already, and then as soon as he entered Hyungwon pounced on him, and started calling him a “thief” and a “snooper” but Minhyuk also once got stuck in the apartment elevator with Hyungwon for five minutes and talked about the whole experience like he had come back from a war, and now was a changed man.

While someone like Minhyuk likes his exaggerations, Hyungwon doesn’t. He likes truths and truths only.

And, the truth was that he waited a whole thirty seconds before pouncing on Minhyuk and calling him a thief and a snooper. When Minhyuk started sputtering and denying - he did look quite taken aback, Hyungwon will give him that - Hyungwon picked another crumb from the couch, a crumb he had actually picked up from the floor and placed it there for that exact moment, and then licked it off while looking at Minhyuk with a “gotcha” face.

In response, Minhyuk had looked at him with wide disbelieving eyes before walking out of the apartment.

If you are a rational and polite person like Hyungwon, you’d think that Minhyuk would come back with snacks and apologize for the blatant disrespect that he showed to Hyungwon’s person earlier.

Well, Minhyuk sort-of-kind-of-but-not-really half did that.

He brought a whole box of snacks and tape, and did that stereotypical sticking the tape on the floor as partition thing and announced that he would stick to his side if Hyungwon stuck to his - this arrangement lasted a whole week, by the way - and popped in his ear pods while digging into his snacks and moaning exaggeratedly.

Need Hyungwon go more?

Aren’t you already on Hyungwon’s side?

Well, you should be, that is, if you want to be on the right side of history.

The elevator opens and Hyungwon checks his hair quickly in the mirror before exiting. Thinking of the next hair colour that he should try, he reaches the front door.

After knocking twice, and hearing no opposition screamed at him, he inserts his keys and unlocks the door. Flinging the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, Hyungwon takes his gloves off and starts rubbing his cold arms while moving towards the living room.

He looks around for his nemesis and finds him sitting on the couch, lifeless fingers moving on the laptop, torso and head covered with his yellow hoodie.

“Honey, I am home!” Hyungwon chirps at Minhyuk with faux cheer while blowing some hot air onto his hands. Usually, this gets Minhyuk narrowing his eyes, pouting his lips, and doing everything with his face including huffing and puffing.

But, today, he doesn’t even look up from his laptop, so Hyungwon moves a little closer, head tilted like a curious feline. “Brought groceries even though it was your turn, so you better clean the dishes.”

The answer doesn’t come, all that happens is that Minhyuk tucks his chin deeper into his chest like he is trying to burrow into himself.

It’s at this point that Hyungwon realizes that something is deeply wrong.

That cleaning the dishes statement should have started a riot.

He takes a curious half-step towards Minhyuk and finds himself deeply horrified when Minhyuk lets out a frustrated sob, facing crinkling with tears, and starts smashing the keys on his laptop.

Instinctively, Hyungwon puts a hand on Minhyuk’s shoulders. “Woah, there. Hey. You okay?”

Minhyuk jerks back from his touch, looking completely shocked, which makes Hyungwon realize that whatever just happened wasn’t meant to be seen by him.

Hidden behind his hood, Minhyuk takes out his ear pods while looking at Hyungwon with wide eyes. With a sniff, he shrugs Hyungwon’s hands off. “Go away. I am not in the mood.”

“Well, how can I get you in the mood then?” Hyungwon's mouth says dumbly.

Hyungwon isn’t even surprised. His mouth does that occasionally whenever he is with/near/beside Minhyuk.

Fortunately, Minhyuk has other things to focus on because he doesn’t comment on the obvious innuendo. He puts his laptop aside and brings his knees to his chest, burying his face in his thighs. “Please, Hyungwon. I can’t right now.”

Hyungwon feels out of his depth. He is so used to Minhyuk meeting his fire with his own that this dismissive attitude irks him a little, so instead of backing off, he decides to sit beside Minhyuk.

“Did something happen?” Hyungwon asks, patting Minhyuk’s back awkwardly.

Minhyuk shakes his head. “No, but I am going to fail.” Minhyuk raises his head to look into Hyungwon’s eyes, and there, behind the curtain of tears, Hyungwon spots a flick of that familiar fire, bright, alive and scorching.

Minhyuk’s mouth turns into a hard line as the fire starts spreading. “Happy? I will fail and go away. You will get a new roommate, and then you wouldn’t have to beg your friends to let you stay with them.” He gives a self-deprecating laugh, head shaking side to side. “You are so lucky.”

Hyungwon presses his lips, unsure about what to say because yeah, that’s what he wanted, right? For the past month, this is all that he has wanted.

But, for some reason, it doesn’t feel right.

First of all, he doesn’t want the guy to fail! And, secondly, what if Minhyuk is replaced by someone worse? At least, Minhyuk is entertaining to mess with. What if the next guy is a jacked bully who listens to the national anthem with patriotic tears in his eyes and says things like “the gays” and “a female”?

At least, with Minhyuk, after a month, Hyungwon sort of knows what he is getting. Sure, most of those things Hyungwon could do without. Like how Minhyuk kicks his door every day in the morning while shouting at him to turn off his alarm? That can be done without. Or how he steals Hyungwon’s one sock out of each pair and then when Hyungwon calls him out on it, he acts all innocent and pretends that Hyungwon might have misplaced it while doing his laundry, or how he borrows Hyungwon’s electric razor and then doesn’t return it unless Hyungwon threatens to put scissors to his hair, or when he starts singing randomly while cooking or cleaning or doing the dishes, or when he ends up sleeping on the couch in the living room, while curling into himself with cold, forcing Hyungwon to put his blanket over him and then getting up and saying thank you, while rubbing his eyes, in the littlest of voices with the littlest of pouts, followed by littlest of smil-

“Yes, that would be great. But, I don’t want you to leave until after you have admitted that you stole my snacks and have compensated me with interest.”

Minhyuk gapes at him, eyes dry now. “Oh my god. I didn’t even touch your stupid snacks!”

Hyungwon clicks his tongue. “I caught you doing it the next week, and the next week, and the next week.” He shakes his head in disappointment. “I caught you just yesterday.”

“Yes, but, those times were the revenge for the time that I didn’t eat your snacks!”

“Okay,” Hyungwon says, tone patronizing. “Now, why are you going to fail?”

Minhyuk groans, holding his head in his hands. “I have this coding project and I procrastinated. I thought I’ll just google it, how hard can it be? And I stitched together half of it from here and there but now I am running it, and it’s not working, and- and,” Minhyuk sucks in a deep breath, eyes starting to water again, “and I have to submit it tomorrow, and I also need to work on my presentation for my other class, and I forgot to get the books from the library that I needed for it and I don’t know what to do! I am going to fail everything and I am going to drop out with a huge debt!”

Hyungwon starts patting Minhyuk’s back, almost thumping, panicking at Minhyuk’s red tear-stained face. “It’s okay. Remember to breathe, yeah?” He puts up a finger and takes a deep breath. “Inhale.” For once, Minhyuk follows him, opening his mouth wide for some reason while taking a deep breath. “Good. Now,” Hyungwon puts his finger down and empties his chest, “Exhale.” Minhyuk blows the breath out, nodding at Hyungwon. “Good. Empty. Empty. Empty. Now, again.”

After five or so breaths, Minhyuk finally starts looking like he is not going to pass out, so Hyungwon gets up and gets him a glass of water and some tissues. Minhyuk looks at them like Hyungwon just offered him an oasis in a desert and then topped it off with some gold bars. He is so easy to please sometimes.

Hyungwon sits down beside Minhyuk while he gulps down the water, and nods at Minhyuk’s laptop. “Let me see it. Maybe, I can fix it.”

Minhyuk looks at him in surprise. “You know coding?”

Hyungwon stares at him blankly. “I am a computer science major. Did you not know that?”

Minhyuk takes the tissues and starts dabbing his eyes. “No, I am not interested in your life like that. You can take the laptop.”

Hyungwon shakes his head. “You- ugh, whatever.” Hyungwon picks up the laptop and stares at the messy, messy, messy HTML code. Minhyuk wasn’t being flowery when he used the word “stitch”.

“I know that you are majoring in Advertising, so I should be the one surprised that you are working with HTML and CSS here,” Hyungwon says while scrolling down, eyes scanning the screen.

“Yeah, it’s a very holistic program, so that I can fail in life holistically.”

Hyungwon nods absent-mindedly while running the code through the browser. “Uh-huh. I can respect that. The code, while messy, should run.” Minhyuk leans over him and points at the mess that is his webpage. “It’s supposed to be cleaner and responsive. Not all over the place like that. I used a CSS grid and everything. I don’t know why it’s displaying like that. It’s all my fault, I got too ambitious.”

Hyungwon gently bumps Minhyuk aside with his shoulder. “I think I got it.” He opens the file in Chrome instead of IE and it displays as intended, Hyungwon guesses, as Minhyuk screams and clutches Hyungwon’s shoulder in a vice grip while sticking his face to the laptop’s screen. “Oh my god, yes! How did you do that?”

Hyungwon shrugs, smugness curling his lips into a smirk. “Your IE hasn’t been updated in ages. It’s practically ancient. It wasn’t supporting your CSS grid. Your code was fine, it was the browser.”

Minhyuk shakes his head in disbelief. “I spent almost two hours doing and redoing the code to find out where I was going wrong.”

“It’s almost always something obvious. From next time, just use chrome as your default, and always run your code through all the browsers. And, avoid new codes that aren’t yet supported by the most used versions of the browsers. Most of the people rarely have up-to-date browsers. Your new fancy code will be useless if no one can see it.”

Minhyuk nods at him, head moving jerkily, eyes wide open. “You are so cool. Like a wise owl!”

Hyungwon cants his head up, lips twitching into a smile. “Why, thank you.”

Minhyuk takes the laptop from him, chest now slightly puffed in confidence. “Thank you so much. Now, I’ll finish it. It should take me like 4 hours, then I will start preparing for my presentation which will take me another 4 hours, and right now, it’s,” He looks at the time on his laptop, “11:15, so I should be done around…” He slumps down dramatically, laptop slipping from his grip, “7 in the morning.”

Hyungwon catches the laptop with one hand and straightens Minhyuk’s deflated form with another. “If you want, I can do it. You can prepare for your presentation until then.” Hyungwon hears himself speaking as Minhyuk puts his hand on his sweater, twisting it subconsciously.

Oh my god. Shut up, you dumb, dumb mouth.

The twinkle in Minhyuk’s eyes and the slightly raised corners of his lips tell Hyungwon that that’s exactly what Minhyuk wanted to hear even though he tries to give a perfunctory denial and swipes his hand at Hyungwon with a wispy “Nah” clearly dragged out from the depths of his tired soul, not even trying to make it look genuine.

It makes Hyungwon laugh.

“Don’t worry. I’ll just listen to some podcasts and do it. It will take me about an hour.” It most certainly will not. It will take longer. “Send me your webpage’s design file and other stuff.”

“I’ll text you a google drive link,” Minhyuk says, an undertone of awe and something else in his tone, his hand, that is still on Hyungwon’s arm in a loose grip, tightening again as he clutches Hyunwgon’s sweater, expression grateful. “Thank you.”

Hyungwon arches his brow, going for aloof while trying to ignore the sudden flighty feeling in his chest that comes and goes whenever Minhyuk looks at him - really looks at him - like that. He starts tapping the keys on Minhyuk’s laptop, trying to look busy. “No problem. My services aren’t for free though, you’ll have to pay me back.”

“Yeah?” Minhyuk says. Hyungwon’s fingers pause in surprise as Minhyuk’s playful voice sounds closer than Hyungwon anticipated. “How can I do that?”

Hyungwon starts tapping the keys again, feeling flustered. “Just- just wash the dishes and do the cleaning for the next two weeks.” He swallows when he feels Minhyuk leaning back, a puff of hot breath touching his cheek before moving away. “Yeah, that will do.”

“Okay,” Minhyuk says, voice small. He gets up and picks up the laptop from Hyungwon’s lap abruptly. “Uh- okay. I’ll do that. I need to get on with my presentation. I’ll send you the file.” He stares down at Hyungwon, mouth opening as if to say something. “I-” He gaze flits away as he shakes his head. “Yeah, uh, okay. I will send you the link. Thanks once again.”

“Yeah, pleasure is all mine.”

“Yeah, okay.” Minhyuk points his thumbs towards his room awkwardly. “Uh- I’ll get going then. The presentation won’t prepare itself.” He forces out a small laugh before half-running towards his room, leaving Hyungwon sitting there confused and feeling like he missed something.

***

It doesn’t take Hyungwon an hour. Of course, it doesn’t. It takes him much more because he pretty much writes almost all the code from scratch. The programmer inside him just couldn’t resist the pretty homepage that Minhyuk designed with his designer eyes and then butchered with his coding hands, and the Chae Hyungwon inside him just couldn’t let that be especially if it had his name on it. If Chae Hyungwon’s name is associated with something - even if no one and only Chae Hyungwon knows that - then that thing can’t be anything less than perfect, and thus, here’s Chae Hyungwon finishing up six hours later.

He sends the file to Minhyuk and stretches his arms over his head, letting out a sigh at the loud crack in his back, followed by moving his head in a clockwise motion and some more worrying cracks in his neck while waiting for Minhyuk’s obnoxious figure to come out and obnoxiously sing Hyungwon’s praise.

When Minhyuk doesn’t come for ten minutes, Hyungwon shuts down his laptop and puts it on the low coffee table in front of him. Exhaustion making his limbs heavier, he lies down on the couch and closes his eyes for a minute. Taking shallow sleepy breaths, he feels the soft foam of the couch melding to his form as the bright blue of the full moon night sky shines through the large window to his left.

The next thing he knows someone is kneeling in front of him, shaking him gently, calling his name lowly.

“Hyungwon, wake up. I got you coffee and some breakfast.”

Hyungwon grunts and turns to his other side, his back towards Minhyuk. “I am not hungry. I just want to sleep.”

A hand comes and adjusts the blanket that Hyungwon doesn’t remember being there at night. “Okay. I am leaving the coffee in the fridge and the food in the kitchen. Have them when you wake up. Thank you for yesterday. It turned out beautifully.”

Hyungwon mumbles a deep “mm-hmm” and goes back to sleep again.

When Hyungwon wakes up, as promised there’s coffee in the fridge, food on the kitchen counter...

and a whole box of snacks.

Hyungwon smiles, sleepily sipping on his coffee. He takes one packet out and stares at it, straw pressed between his teeth, his smile widening into a grin.

***

And, that’s how their rivalry ends.

From then on, when Minhyuk bumps him into the elevator, Hyungwon just sighs at him and asks him about his day. When Minhyuk forgets to do the dishes, instead of putting them in front of Minhyuk’s door like he used to, he just grabs Minhyuk by the shoulders and makes him do it in front of him while sitting on the counter, swinging his legs, shit-talking people that Minhyuk doesn’t know and hearing Minhyuk shit-talk people that Hyungwon doesn’t know.

And then, suddenly, one day they are grocery shopping together, sharing snacks while watching movies together, playing games together, _magically_ discovering a pile of Hyungwon’s socks under their living room couch together.

They are so together that Hyungwon’s friends (and Kihyun) start calling Minhyuk his boyfriend, wiggling their eyebrows whenever they spot Minhyuk in Hyungwon’s vicinity or Minhyuk’s name on Hyungwon’s tongue.

Hyungwon doesn’t mind. Once his big heart forgives Minhyuk for being a thief and a con man, Minhyuk turns out to be quite a good company.

A good company that stops putting tea leaves in his stuff. Life is beautiful.

Some things still stay the same though.

Minhyuk still doesn’t stop singing randomly, even if now he smiles openly at Hyungwon when he catches him staring. He doesn’t stop waking him up by knocking on his door, even if he pats Hyungwon’s cheek and gives him coffee when Hyungwon does open it.

What also doesn’t change is the weird feelings inside his chest at random times, almost always associated with Minhyuk. Or his mouth being extremely dumb like the time Minhyuk asked him to open a jar that he couldn’t open himself and when Hyungwon did it easily, Minhyuk grinned at him and playfully said, “Woah. You are such a man.” and wires in Hyungwon’s brain criss-crossed-apple-sauced and his mouth blurted out “I can be your man” like it was supposed to make sense and then when Minhyuk stared at him, expression stuck between confusion and something else, Hyungwon decided that it was a good time to moonwalk out of there while shouting “It’s a new song. It’s going viral. Look it up.”

Or the time Hyungwon was chopping vegetables for noodles and Minhyuk came from his room and side hugged Hyungwon, tucking his chin over his shoulder, and said, “Hyungwon, I am having a bad day.” and Hyungwon’s mind went beep-boop-beep and he replied with a low-toned “Should I make it better?” and then both of them just paused there, the words suspended in the air all around them, and then, maybe, Minhyuk’s brain went beep-boop-beep too because he said, “Yeah.” in an equally rough tone, and Hyungwon decided that it was a nice moment to cut his finger.

Or the time Minhyuk bought a neck massager but didn’t tell Hyungwon so when one-night Hyungwon woke up to use the toilet and heard a whirring sound coming from Minhyuk’s room followed by low moans, he assumed the worst and couldn’t look at Minhyuk’s face for a whole week without feeling red all over and then Minhyuk innocently asked him if he wanted a massage because he looked tense these days, Hyungwon’s mind just went blank, replaying _no_ sounds and expecting _nothing_ , and _not being disappointed at all_ when Minhyuk just handed him the massager and went his merry way.

Or the time...okay, let’s not talk about _that_ time. Like ever.

Ahem, so, anyway, these are just little things that Hyungwon can adjust to and has been adjusting to for the past two months.

“Adjusting, that’s the bedrock of humanity, isn’t it?” Hyungwon thinks while pressing the 3rd-floor button on the elevator, smiling goofily at his phone when it pings with a text and he reads Minhyuk’s name on the screen. He doesn’t open the text, in a moment, he will be with Minhyuk anyway.

Today, they are going to watch a movie in the evening but Hyungwon skipped a class because reasons, so maybe, now they can watch two movies together? Endless possibilities. That’s another thing about humanity, isn’t it?

Whistling, Hyungwon knocks on the door and hearing no protest, turns in the key.

“Honey, I am home. I brought pizza!” He says, tone teasing. It’s almost their thing now. Oh, how the times have changed. One day you want to kill someone even at the risk of getting caught, another day, you are friends with feelings and everything! That’s the third thing about humanity.

Humanity is on a roll today.

Minhyuk comes out from his room, but instead of wearing his hippie pajamas, he is wearing a biker jacket with a white shirt and skinny black jeans, hair carefully straightened, long blonde bangs falling on his forehead.

“Aw, you dressed for our movie night? I feel so flattered,” Hyungwon teases, turning around to put the pizza away.

Minhyuk grimaces, following Hyungwon to the kitchen. “I didn’t know you were coming so soon. Did you not get my text?”

Hyungwon puts the pizza box on the counter and opens the fridge to take out a bottle of coke. “Huh? Eh, didn’t read it. I was right outside the door. Bunked a class.” He turns around, and opens the bottle, almost letting the fizz spill out when he sees Minhyuk’s sheepish expression because he knows what that means.

Hyungwon sighs, shoulders slumping. “Are you canceling on me?”

Minhyuk nods, lips pressed, nose scrunched and his cheeks raised, his I-am-sorry-but-I-am-cute expression in full effect. “Yeah, I met this guy, and, uh,” His expression turns blank, gaze turning daring, “We are going on a date, so raincheck?”

Hyungwon lifts the bottle to his lips, gulping down three long sips, feeling his heart clench. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to hide his dark expression.

Putting the bottle down, he smiles at Minhyuk. “I didn’t know you were looking for a date.”

Minhyuk lips twitch in a sneer. “Yeah, you just don’t know anything.”

Hyungwon raises his palms in defense. “Damn. Just asked a harmless question.”

Minhyuk looks away while scratching his cheek. “Sorry. Yeah, I wasn’t but recently I think it’s a good idea for me to date.”

Hyungwon nods slowly, feeling like he is saying all the wrong words. “Yeah? Sounds great. I just worry about the other guy, you know?”

This makes Minhyuk look at him, fiery eyes sharp. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Hyungwon’s brows rise in surprise. He takes a step forward and puts his hands over Minhyuk’s shoulder, feeling the tightness in them. “Nothing. Just bantering. Why are you so angry today? Did I do something?”

Minhyuk stares up at him for a moment before slumping. “No. Sorry. One of those days, I guess. I am sorry.”

Hyungwon pats his shoulders and smiles at him, this time genuine and comforting. “It’s okay.” Abruptly, Minhyuk wraps his arms around Hyungwon’s waist, putting all his weight on Hyungwon who wraps his arms around Minhyuk’s shoulders and draws his head against his neck. ‘Hey, you okay? If you are not feeling well, you should cancel the date.”

The head against him moves left to right. “No, I am okay. I should be going now. I am already running late,” Minhyuk says, relaxing his hold.

“Okay,” Hyungwon responds while tightening his own.

***

That happened an hour ago when humanity was on a roll.

Right now, Hyungwon doesn’t know what his one-hour-younger self was smoking. Because right now, his one-hour-older, hence, wiser self completely disagrees.

Humanity is shit, wiser Hyungwon thinks, rolling a slice of pizza and stuffing it whole in his mouth while watching Fast and Furious whatever part. If humanity had even one iota of potential, they wouldn’t have produced so many parts of this piece of shit.

Hyungwon looks at his phone and sighs internally at the lack of notifications again.

Sucking his teeth in, he impulsively picks his phone and texts Minhyuk.

**I hope your date is going well. Are you feeling better now?**

To Hyungwon’s utter surprise and glee, Minhyuk immediately responds back.

**Feeling better. The date is going great!**

Hyungwon smirks to himself. Okay, sure.

**Oh. Of course, I too respond to texts instantly while I am on dates that are going great.**

Again, the response is immediate. And, suddenly, humanity is on a roll again.

**Ugh. Shut up. It’s going splendidly. Take your negativity out of my positive space, old man.**

**All I am saying is that “great” date status should be reserved for dates that make you look away from your phone.**

**What do you know about dates?**

**No one in their right mind is going to ask you out.**

**Hah! What a jolly fellow, you are! FYI, I know plenty about dating. No one dates like I do. Chae Hyungwon dates are what fairytales are made of. When I date someone, I make sure that whenever they think of me, they think of romance, magic, and other good shit. When they are going to die, their last thought would be recalling that date with me.**

**Sure.**

**You think I am bluffing?**

**Yup. All you do is lie to yourself.**

**Ouch. Words can break hearts, you know?**

**Good.**

“Good”?

Hyungwon is losing him. Time to pull out the big guns then.

**Wow, you still take me for a liar? well, if you were on a date with me, baby, you wouldn’t even think of looking at your phone.**

This time the reply doesn’t come immediately which makes Hyungwon a little nervous. Thinking that he might have overstepped, his fingers hover on his phone to text a ‘sorry’ when the screen lights up again.

**Yeah? What would I be thinking of then?**

Hyungwon’s cheeks lift in a full smile, he turns off the TV and goes to his bedroom, getting cozy inside his blanket, and then replies.

**Well, you would be thinking of how sexy and charming I am.**

**Tsk. You talk so big and you didn’t even bother actually trying. Come on. try harder. Give me a scenario. What would a Chae Hyungwon and Lee Minhyuk date be like?**

**Challenge accepted. Prepared to feel things?**

**Do your worst.**

Hyungwon takes a deep breath, feeling warm for reasons other than his thin blanket.

**Since we are roommates, I will leave before you, and then meet you outside the mall. (We are going for a classic movie date).**

**When we meet, I’ll say “You look really nice” but my eyes will tell you what I actually mean is that you look really, really beautiful** **and it’s not about how you are dressed. It’s just that I always find you beautiful.**

**Cheesy. Then what?**

**Then, we’ll go inside the movie hall, but not before I buy you popcorn and coke, and I’ll pay because I am a gentleman who wants to charm you.**

**Old-fashioned. Then what?**

**Then, the movie will start and the lights will dim, and I will hold your hand and kiss it because I think you have pretty hands with the softest of skins, and it’s a travesty that they stay unkissed.**

Hyungwon screams internally, feeling the heat rise on his face. He can’t believe he just said that to Minhyuk. It’s not untrue, and that’s the problem, and now that Minhyuk knows about it, it’s an even bigger problem. No one that Hyungwon wants to kiss should know that Hyungwon wants to kiss them!

Even then, Hyungwon feels possessed, almost like he is purging and it’s beyond his body’s control now, so he continues typing, finding himself incapable of stopping.

**Then, maybe you’ll look at me in surprise, so I will look at you back while kissing your wrist, because you have the prettiest of wrists, and they should very much get kissed too.**

Oh my God, Hyungwon, you cheeseball, shut the fuck up!

**I don’t know what your expression would be like, but whatever it is, it’s going to make me smile because your face does that to me sometimes.**

**Okay, many times.**

**Most of the times.**

**Then what?**

**Then, maybe I will kiss your cheek. Just softly. Barely. Chastely. Because there are still people around us. But, you will colour up or squirm or raise your brow at me in challenge, so I will become bolder for a minute and drop a deep kiss on your neck or below your jaw before taking hold of your hand and kissing your wrist again.**

**I think it’s time we watched the movie a little, so I’ll hold your hand, and we’ll go back to watching the movie. I will start stroking your hand with my thumb, because did I tell you that you have the softest of skins and I think every second that I am not touching it is a moment very much wasted.**

**And, you get it, right?**

**I just think you should be kissed and touched, frequently and lovingly, is all.**

**And that’s what I will be doing on our date. I will also indulge you whispering some commentary in my ears here and there even though I don’t like people talking in theatres because I like your voice, and to have your lips so close to me is always appreciated.**

**Then?**

**After the movie, we’ll go out and eat and I will pay because I am very much on my shit, and I am not taking any risks.**

**Then, we’ll go out for a scenic walk somewhere of your suggestion, and you’ll do that thing where you hold my arm, and then a moment later awkwardly remove your hands for some reason except we are on a date so you don’t have to take your hands off, and we’ll just walk around like that, maybe eat some street food, or ice cream, click some pictures, and press and pull subtly against each other, and talk about everything like we always do, and we’ll make each other laugh so much. So so so much that we are going to remember that day for the rest of our lives.**

**And then?**

**Then, the night will come. And, it’s March but it still gets cold in the night, so we’ll shiver against each other and press closer and then we’ll find a corner away from people and kiss under the stars.**

**Maybe. If you want.**

**Personally, I would like that very much but I am flexible.**

**Would you like to kiss, Minhyuk? I need the data to keep the scene going.**

**Yeah.**

**Let’s assume so.**

**Okay then. It will be a slow kiss, you know? You’ll try to turn it into something quicker and rougher because you are impatient and are always running, but I will hold your chin and stroke your cheeks and kiss you slowly till you relax and slow down with me. It’s our first kiss, you know?**

**Call me a romantic but there is plenty of time for other kinds of kisses. The first kiss should be meaningful, whatever meaning you want it to have. Even if it’s awkward, messy, clacking teeth, too much tongue, whatever, your intention should be clear.**

**So, when we’ll kiss, you’ll know that I have wanted this for a while now, and I am going to savour it.**

**Then?**

**Then, we’ll take a cab, and you will rub my arms, trying to wade away the shivers that have taken a hold of me, not knowing the actual cause of it.**

**We’ll step in the elevator that has seen so many of our moments, and we’ll add another, as I will press you against it and kiss you, this time letting you turn it rougher, deeper because now I want you to know that I like savouring things but you make me crazy and impatient sometimes, so you should take responsibility for that.**

**Then?**

**We’ll get home and we both would be standing in front of your door and I’ll ask you “Now what?” and maybe we’ll part with a sweet good night kiss and even sweeter smiles, pecking, pecking, pecking each other after every “good night” because we don’t want our date to end and then I’ll stop you and ask if you liked the date and would like to continue this. You know?**

**Wait, not s e x!**

**As in, if you would like to date me and all that jazz.**

**So, now it would be your turn.**

**I wonder what your answer would be.**

Hyungwon’s grip is tight on his phone, hands shaky as he curses his impulsivity, reading the last message again and again to himself. He scrolls up, scanning the other texts, feeling dumb because he just said all these things to Minhyuk.

A foreign all-consuming feeling starts enveloping him, almost like there are million ping-pong balls inside the hollow of his chest, bouncing up and down wildly, and he can feel the resulting tremors over his whole body.

Hyungwon pulls the blanket around him closer.

He didn’t even realise how much he wanted to say those things until he typed them out, and now everything makes so much sense. The fluttering in his stomach when Minhyuk casually puts his head on his shoulder while they watch a movie, the heat in his face when Minhyuk absent-mindedly stares at him and calls him handsome, the high-high-high of everything when Minhyuk touches him or feeds him or presses Hyungwon’s face between his palms or just smiles so wide and laughs so bright when Hyungwon makes a bitchy remark.

Or the clenching of his heart when Minhyuk said that he is going on a date with someone else.

Now, only if he had realised it sooner and maybe come up with a game plan better than...whatever he just did.

An abrupt knock on the door makes Hyungwon’s grip loosen in surprise. The phone falls from his hand and bounces on the mattress but Hyungwon pays it no mind. Scurrying, he flings himself to the door because he knows that familiar knock.

Minhyuk is standing in front of the door, breathing hard like he just ran, sweat on his brow.

Minhyuk swallows deeply, the movement transparent on his pronounced adam’s apple. He moves closer to Hyungwon, face blank except for the slight furrow in his brows that gives away his nervousness, his arms pressed again his sides, hands clenched in a fist.

“Stop playing games with me, Hyungwon.”

Hyungwon finds himself still, mouth unmoving, unsure of what to say, how to move, and how to breathe.

Minhyuk takes one look at Hyungwon’s face and affects some defiance in his gaze as if to say that even if the next words get him banished and exiled, he will leave with his pride.

“I think,” Minhyuk begins and Hyungwon finds himself nodding at nothing, “I would say ‘Yes’.”

Caught in the inertia, Hyungwon continues nodding, dumbfounded. Not processing anything at all and feeling a little lost because he isn’t sure what’s happening. It all seems so abrupt and quick like dreams of many nights blending into one flash of a memory.

Well, if it’s a dream, then there would be no consequences, right?

Right.

So, then that’s what Hyungwon is going with.

“So, that will be our date,” he says hesitantly, putting his hands over Minhyuk’s waist, hovering, not touching, because he can feel the rise and fall of Minhyuk’s chest along with the surprising intensity of his own feelings, and he isn’t really sure where to go from here even if there are no consequences.

Minhyuk makes it easier for him as he takes Hyungwon’s hand and puts them firmly on his waist. He gives Hyungwon an encouraging nod as if Hyungwon is expected to be capable of forming a thought after he just did that.

Hyungwon feels the taut muscles of Minhyuk’s waist beneath his hands, slight curve fitting in the contour of his palms perfectly, and thinks why is he is supposed to retain any kind of mental faculty to think over the loudness of his heartbeats. He inhales a deep breath and feels his chest expand, the messy pin-prick of sensations getting stronger and stronger.

Think? Right now?

As if.

With a determined expression on his face, Hyungwon cups Minhyuk’s face between his palms with intent. “Just to confirm. Go out with me?”

Minhyuk blinks and then blinks again, slower this time. His lips part and his smile blooms, and it’s so bright and so happy that the sun will always look wane to Hyungwon after this.

You get it. Whatever. Butterflies, man. Butterflies.

Minhyuk slightly rises on his feet, his arms going around Hyungwon’s shoulder, lips hovering a few inches - or maybe a big bang level of a collision - away as his grin widens even more and Hyungwon feels his own cheeks rising to thank the love gods in the sky as he hears Minhyuk shout.

“Okay!”

*******

**“** Hyungwon. Open up! Open up! Open u-”

“Oh my god. It’s open. Come in,” Hyungwon shouts, sleep laden voice breaking mid-sentence. Eyes closed, he winces and clears his throat, scooting and patting the space beside him when he hears the door open, and Minhyuk’s familiar post-shower scent fills his senses.

Soon enough the scent envelops him completely as Minhyuk lies down beside him and softly kisses his neck.

“You need to get up. We have a class,” Minhyuk says, voice loud and unmerciful.

Hyungwon hums. “Bye-bye then”

Minhyuk punches his arm lightly and throws his leg over him, pushing Hyungwon’s body into the bed. When that doesn’t work, he starts tracing words with his lips against Hyungwon’s jawline. “You have a class too.”

“It’s a uni. Everyone has a class.”

A predictable playful bite against his neck. “Okay, smartass. You need to get up. You told me yesterday that whatever happens, I need to wake you up on time.”

Hyungwon puts an arm over Minhyuk’s waist and draws him towards his chest. “I am not the same man that I was yesterday. Today, I have decided that I am going to drop out and be a house husband.”

“Weird how you say these things and then stay up all night studying like you did yesterday. Did you finish your assignment?”

Hyungwon smiles. “Yeah, I did.” He kisses Minhyuk’s forehead before rolling away and getting up, rubbing his eyes open before wearing his glasses. “I am a man of my words, not action.” He says in his sleep scratchy voice. “I am going to be a boy toy and I’ll be shit at it, you’ll see.”

Minhyuk stays in the bed and stares at Hyungwon who hunches onto himself while thinking about life, death, and how he still needs to proofread his assignment, gulping down water while trying to overcome the depressive taste of thick sleep at the back of his throat. He puts the bottle back on the nightstand and extends his hand towards Minhyuk who shakes his head.

“I don’t feel like going. I just wanted to wake you up because you asked me to.”

Hyungwon gives him a stern look, pushing his hand closer. “You need to study hard, Minhyuk. I can’t stay poor forever. I am relying on you to be my sugar daddy after graduation”

Minhyuk smiles cutely with his eyes closed, wiggling while rolling away from Hyungwon’s hand. “That reminds me. Did you see my Amazon wishlist? Don’t buy me anything outside of it for my birthday.”

Hyungwon shakes his head and turns around to collect his laptop. Life and death can wait but he won’t be able to swallow down breakfast in peace if he didn’t proofread his assignment right now.

“Yeah, yeah. You are going to suck me dry. I am poor, have some mercy.”

Minhyuk shrugs. “Poor. Rich. Everyone gets the same list, I don’t discriminate.” He throws Hyungwon’s sheet over himself. “Turns the AC lower when you go out.”

“Not so soon, Kihyun and Changkyun are coming to pick me up. I asked them to get us some breakfast. Eat with us and then go to sleep if you are going to skip.”

No response.

Hyungwon sighs and starts walking out with his laptop. He works better in the living room. “Maybe if you ate on time, you wouldn’t have stolen my snacks.”

“Oh my God. It wasn’t me!”

So, the thing is, yeah, Hyungwon knew that.

He figured it out almost a week after it happened. He was telling Changkyun about how his roommate stole his snacks on the first day itself, and Changkyun responded casually that it was actually Kihyun who went in Hyungwon’s room to drop some stuff, got hungry and ate his chips, letting Hyungwon believe that Minhyuk stole them because Hyungwon was throwing a fit. It’s a good ice-breaker story that Kihyun shares with everyone, Changkyun had added with serious eyes.

But.

As far as Hyungwon is concerned, there are two main branches of political thoughts, one is political moralism, which is - ugh, just look it up - and the other is political realism, which, to put it simply, approaches politics as power, and argues that politics is about gaining, retaining and exercising power.

So, that being said.

This isn’t lying.

Maintaining a moral high ground to have some kind of power over the demon that lives inside Minhyuk is _not_ lying.

Hyungwon flings the blanket away from Minhyuk’s form and straddles him, taking satisfaction in those wide eyes which tell him that he is still capable of surprising Minhyuk like that even after a year.

He bends down and kisses Minhyuk deeply before getting up and leaving.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, baby!”

“Oh my god!”

It’s not lying, it’s political realism.

Get your shit right.

**Author's Note:**

> To read this fic's tiny sequel set in the future, please click on the next work. Cheers! 
> 
> You can use [this sexy google form](https://forms.gle/JGoKcKiXNF54mcEXA) to send me your prompts but please keep in mind that I only write them when I don't feel like working on my wips and I (try to) keep them short, lowkey and lazy. 
> 
> To the prompter: Thank you for the wonderful prompt. It allowed me to just word vomit and I haven't word vomited like that in a while so it felt great. The way you wrote the prompt, I know you would have preferred more romance and less shit-posting but I am 92 years old and in my time, we just herded each other's sheep and called it a day, so I don't know how to write that. I still hope that you enjoyed some sparse bits here and there? Bro. What if you wanted something quick and short? Bro. I am sorry. You must know that I stopped myself from expanding on so many things. Like how did Hyungwon's life change by suddenly being poor? What about campus RJ Minhyuk, what does he talk about? How are Changkyun and Kihyun as people? Bro. I really did try my best. 
> 
> To everyone: DON'T COME FOR THE CODING BITS, I TRIED MY BEST, OkAY?! Jk, you can come for it if you are willing to personally tutor me. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it! Your comments and kudos and shares are encouraged and appreciated. 
> 
> Here's my twitter where I comment on society: [Twitter](https://twitter.com/crankyminwon)  
> Here's my cc where I like receiving your comments on society: [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/MellowMinhyuk)
> 
> See ya!


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